Why does my dog eat poop?!

While sometimes caused by underlying health conditions, poor hygiene in the infant stage, or other social-behavior reasons, eating poop is generally not an unnatural behavior. Dogs especially like the poop of other animals, like cats, horses, and cows. Many of you who share your homes with cats probably also have some stories about your dog looking for treats in the litter box. Our cute dogs have evolved as opportunistic scavengers, so if something on the ground smells like food to them, many of them will decide to try it out. We work very hard to prevent this from happening and to teach dogs that it is unacceptable behavior. We have noticed that there are some dogs who are dedicated poop seekers, and some dogs are offended by the very idea. But sometimes, the poop of a certain dog will have some kind of magical quality and EVERYONE will decide it’s the equivalent of a roast turkey on a silver platter. Our best guess for most cases? The preservatives, artificial flavorings, or undigested ingredients of processed foods, like kibble, remain present in their poops and disguise them as food and smell very appetizing to the dogs. Somes dog food brands have such a strong and distinct smell as poop, that we can correctly identify them by the odor of their poop or the common reaction of other dogs to it. If all dogs consumed a biologically appropriate diet of fresh, unprocessed, easy to digest foods, we believe this might not be such a common issue, but with modern times, come modern problems. Like poop eating.